Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“At least he knows he fucked up,” Zach said, making Harrison realize while he’d been kicking his own ass, they’d all been talking around him.
Pushing out of his chair, he rose to his feet, taking a second to gain his balance.
“Where are you going?” Asher stood up, too.
“Home to sober up. I have a flight to LA in the morning for meetings. I’ll be gone for about a week. I’ll text Winter from there and make sure she knows when I get back, we need to talk.”
Time away would give him a chance to pull himself together and have a rational conversation planned out for when he returned.
“I’ll drive you,” Asher said, walking over and slinging an arm around his shoulder, causing Harrison to relax.
No matter what any of them did wrong, they were family, and he was lucky to have each person that was here worrying about him. If the situation were reversed, he’d do the same for them.
But his time for dicking around and turning to alcohol as a solution was over. He was going to be a father, and he needed to grow the fuck up.
Chapter Four
After Harrison walked out, Winter ran to the bathroom, and she’d been sick. Since she was between assignments, she’d taken advantage and climbed into bed with Panda and slept until Nikki called to say she was coming over. The dog had been nudging her anyway, so she’d climbed out of bed, walked Panda, and waited for Nikki, who had arrived ten minutes ago with pints of ice cream she’d picked up on the way over.
Winter’s stomach was still off, so she decided to save the ice cream for later.
“Stop pacing,” Nikki said, walking over to the kitchen table and setting down a cup of chamomile tea. “This has no sugar and a drop of milk. It will help your stomach and hopefully relax you.”
Taking a seat, Winter sent her sister a grateful look. She wrapped her hands around the warm mug and sighed. “Thank you.” She lifted the cup and took a delicate sip, happy when she didn’t burn her tongue. “What brings you by?”
Nikki grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and joined Winter at the table, taking a chair across from her. “I was worried. You didn’t answer my first three calls today.”
“Sorry. It wasn’t an easy morning.” Winter took another soothing sip of tea. “I told Harrison about the baby.”
Nikki met her gaze. “How did he take it?”
“Oh, about as well as I expected from a man who said he didn’t want kids.” Her stomach twisted at the reminder.
Nikki tipped her head to one side. “He said that?” Her hands curled tighter around the water bottle, obviously angry on Winter’s behalf.
“Well, to be fair, he said it during our interview this past summer, but he didn’t deny it today. Do you know how he feels about it?” Winter asked.
Nikki shook her head. “Sorry.”
Winter swallowed hard. “It’s fine. I told him I’m prepared to handle it on my own.”
Though Nikki winced, Winter wasn’t as freaked out by the prospect. Scared? Yes. But she had her mom as an example, and she’d make things work.
“How did you leave things?”
Winter took a moment, focusing on her palms against the ceramic mug, letting the warmth seep into her. “He said he wouldn’t shirk his responsibility.” She all but spat the word. “And I do not want to be some man’s obligation.” The thought made her sick, and the pain of his words stayed with her all day.
“Oh wow. I’m going to kill him.” Nikki rose from her chair, stepped over, and wrapped her arms around Winter’s shoulders, and she leaned her head into her sister’s embrace.
For so much of her life, it had been her mom who provided all the hugs Winter needed. Erin had been a big support too, but over the last year, with her mom gone and Erin living in Washington, DC, Winter had been so alone. Having Nikki was slowly giving her the comfort she’d been denied.
“Actually, I’m sure Asher’s letting him have it right now.”
“What?” She pulled away and looked up, causing Nikki to step back and meet her gaze.
“Umm…” Nikki nibbled on her lower lip. “Asher got a call from Zach. Harrison was at the bar, and something was clearly wrong, but Zach couldn’t get it out of him. Zach asked all the siblings to come by.”
“An intervention. Lovely.” Winter shook her head. “So they’re all there talking about me?”
“More like they’re giving Harrison shit for his attitude. It’s what they do. Something happens, and it becomes a family affair.”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Winter said and finished her tea, needing the comfort she found in a drink her mom used to make for her.
Nikki went to step forward again, and Winter shook her head, not needing another hug. “I’m fine,” she assured her sister. “And I’m so grateful to have found you and Derek. At least this little one will have an aunt and uncle who want to get to know him or her.” It was so odd to think she was having a baby, she mused, still unused to the idea.